Unu, Yet Another Android Gaming Device, Ships by November

Are you getting overwhelmed by all the Android gaming devices coming out this year? Well, too bad, because here comes another micro-console and media box, Unu.

Unu is a combination console, tablet and home entertainment device, promising to bring “virtually any game” from Google’s app store, Google Play, to the big screen by way of a TV-connected dock. The Unu tablet that fits in the dock can then be removed and used independently, running Android 4.1 with a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor and 8 gigabytes of flash storage.

An “airmouse” for controlling some apps from the couch will ship with the dock and tablet as the media edition for $200, while the gaming edition will cost an extra $50 and include a gamepad controller in the hardware bundle. Starting today, Unu is accepting pre-orders through GameStop, which lists the release date as Oct. 29, and Newegg, which pegs it at Nov. 8.

2013 has been a big year for gaming hardware built on top of Google’s mobile operating system. We’ve already seen stabs at the mobile-to-TV crossover audience like Green Throttle (was $40 in April, now $30), Ouya (June, $100) the Nvidia Shield (July, $300) and the GameStick (September, $80). And we’re awaiting the release of the GamePop and GamePop Mini (release TBD, $129 and free with software subscriptions) and Mad Catz M.O.J.O. (December, $250).

And that’s to say nothing of all the non-gaming-specific Android-based phones and tablets that, in most cases, can play many of the same games.

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